Wednesday Report - Such As It Is

It was very busy last night.  I guess no ball game, no debate?  What ever the reason, we were pretty slamming from 5:30 on.  Val got to her bar just at the time I wasn't sure I could manage it any longer.  The point being - I didn't get many photos.  Just one course from the prix-fixe dinner, the empanada:

This savory turnover was filled with mushrooms and spinach.  A little hand-pie, so to speak.

The empanada was followed by bell peppers stuffed with quinoa and chicken.  This is one of the first times we have served quinoa, which is a bit like couscous in its ability to meld into a dish without really taking over.  Very good for you, and a fine replacement for rice in the peppers.  Dessert last night was an apple crisp, made with some of Terry Anthony's organic apples.  I am not convinced it was last night's menu that brought the people into the dining room, but we sold out of it by 7:30, which is never a bad thing.

The only other picture I managed to get was of the "new" lamb dish:

This is the substitution for the lamb preparation actually listed on the menu.  It is the shoulder, slow braised, mixed with goat cheese, spinach and raisins and then wrapped with brik pastry.  It has been very well received since its debut and will eventually make its way to the permanent menu.   

Continuing on with our Famous Hands Holding a BT Dog series:

Many of you probably recognize this famous face, and he actually did give me permission to include more than his hands enjoying his BT Dog at lunch.  He even agreed to put a few rings of our CowGirl Candy on it, to spice things up somewhat.

We are still getting pretty much all of our produce from Redman's - sweet potatoes, zucchini, broccoli and cauliflower,  spinach, butternut squash, wax and green beans, peppers and turnips.  Corn is over - that is sad - but tomatoes are still hanging on.  It is slowly becoming winter.  It's funny how I crave the spring's seasonal offerings - asparagus and crabs and peas - but turnips and cauliflower, not so much.  I suppose part of it is the length of time we have onions and carrots as our vegetable - anything coming after weeks of that would be quite a welcome change!

 Of course oysters will be here soon, which of course at Brooks Tavern means the return of the oyster fritter, which makes it a lot easier to say good by to the crabcake...